Rail joint tread bridge



Oct. 29, 1946. w. G, BUHaER 2,410,199

BAIL'. JOINT TREAD BRIDGE I Filed Jan. 5, 1946 Hr To RNE/.5.

Patented Oct. 29, 119.46

UNITED STA'r-Es PATENT .OFFICE WIS..

pplication January 5, 1946,1Serial N o. 639,214 i (clazaszls) 4 Claims.1

IIhis invention relates to rail joint tread bridges and consists of thenovel construction hereinafter disclosed.

As is well known in the art, one of the principal dii-culties in -trackmaintainance is the v.prevention .of so-called vlow joints between rail.ends of the track.

The requirement of spacing. adjacent ends of .the rails lto provideexpansion space necessarily results inthe downward ,deflection of railends kat the joint, ,gradually weakening the rails at the 'adiacnbendsand Causing, inmany cases, broken joints, as will =bereadily'understood.

Furthermore, the constant downward deection of the' rails'at-theadjacent ends causes tamping down of the roadbed beneath the supportingties at the joints, causing pockets in which Water accumulates, and theconstant downward deection of the rail forces out the roadbed support,mainly at the joints. y

It is a matter of com-mon knowledge that this constant disintegration ofthe `roadbed at the rail joints is a major item connected with trackmaintenance.

One ofthe primary objects of the present invention is to provide a, railjoint that tends to obviate or overcome these defects with the presentrail joint. First, by providing the matching edges of the rail withcomplementary angular cuts so that the weight of the railroad equipmentat the joints is distributed and, second, to provide for bridging thejoints in-such a manner that part of the weight of the railroadequipment is carried by the sh plate across the joint at the adjacentends of the rails. Y

Another object of the invention isl to provide a construction which maybe readily incorporated with standard rail track equipment, and which 3is anenlargedcross section through the yjointteilten.. substantially onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and.

jFQgfiSa perspective view illustrating the form o awedge block employedin the constructionas .a-meansof adjusting the elevation of the fishplate.

Y In the embodiment of the invention selected ,for illustration, theadjacent ends of rails I are cut yat complementary angles, as indicatedat 2.

Y Otherwisathe rails-are of astandard construcmay be adjusted toaccommodate the carrying tread of the rail joint to thestandard tread ofthe railroad car Wheels, with provision for the necessary adjustment forthe proper tread .of the wheels of the railroad equipment, particularlyon'curved sections 'of the track.

These, as well as additional advantages, will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the invention taken in connection withthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan viewfof a joint constructe in accordance with thepresent invention, with certain of the'structure being indicated indotted lines;

Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the rail joint, in-

corporating the present invention, with 4part ofvk the structure beingindicated indotted lines;A

tion `including a base section 3, a tread section 4 connected rbyfa web5 through which there are `Omniries 6.

The crownof the tread `section 4 is rounded @tits-@lateral -edgesfand isadapted to conform to ,theutread face'of Va wheel 1 of standardconstructionwhich wheel includes the inner side lflange. f. The standardcrown surface of the rail has a curved contour 8, formed Yon apredetermined radius. The .tread surface, as is usual in railway car-wlieelsl if formed, on a predetermined curvature l0, .which tapers tothe outer face of zthefwheel. as Clearly. illustrated in Fig- 3- 'Ihisconstruction of a car wheel will be recognizedas standard, and isrequired because of the necessary formation of the wheel to provide for.the proper tracking of the wheel to the rail, both o n straight andcurved sections lof the railway track.

It willmbe understood :that on curved sections of -track, the outerlwheels ride on the radius 9 tof the ange section of the wheel againstthe inner edgey of the rail, and the'outer portion of the tread of thewheel,because of its tapered periphery inY this area, extends above theplane of the; .Crew-r1V .0f the rail :4;-

'-Whauhas 'beenwdescribed relates to standard ralfandrcar Ywheelconstruction, but has been .described 'in orderthat the application ofthe particular.constructionl embodying the present invention' may bebetter-understood.

'Il'iestructure roi" the present Linvention includes ansin'ner-.plate VII` formed `witha -top ange l2 .andfaihottom lange i3, the upper face ofthe flanged! iittng against theunder-inclined surface of thestandardtreadsectionof the rail 4, andthe underface ofthe flange I3 beingtapered to fconformto the upper face of the flange section 3 .oftherail, as =wi1l .clearly appear from Fi` g` ,3 of .the drawing. The plateHV is provided withv boltopenngs M.

'lhegouter'member. the rail jointincludes a plate formed withlal sectionl5 in the form V.offlan elongated plate A.with .recesses v.I E in itsfront 3 face, which plate has a plane horizontal bottom face I1 and aninclined upper face I8. The upper face I8 inclines inwardly and iscomplementarily formed with the lower wall of the outer area of the railtread 4.

This lower section I is provided with a series of bolt openings IStherethrough. Integrally formed with the section I5 of the outer memberof the joint is a section 20, having recesses 2I in the front facethereof. The upper edge of the section 2i) is formed on a convex curve,as

illustrated at 22 (Fig. 2), and inclines inwardly,`v

as illustrated at 23 in Fig. 3.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be` noted that the top face of themember I9 is elevated above the crown of the rail at its high point, andthat because of the curvature 22,.:it is substantially, in the sameplane as the crown of the rail at each end thereof. Therefore, as thecar wheel' l passes over the joint,'it is supported near its `outer faceentirely` by the upper surface of the outer member of the joint, whichcarries a major portion of the load, the remainder of which,particularly on curved sections of the track; rides on the radius 9 ofthe inner flange of the wheel against the inner curved portion-of thetread- Ysection of the railway rail. l

The angle cut at the ends ofthe rails is arranged so that the outer edgeof the expansion is approximately at the medium line of the outer plate.Therefore, the load will be carried across the expansion space by theupper face of the Aouter plate at its highest elevation.

In order to provide a practical means of properly adjusting the relativeelevation of the top lface of the outer rail joint member and the upperface of the rail, I have provided a convenient means of constructing thejoint, so that the upper tread surface thereof will be accuratelyelevated in respect of the tread'section ofthe rail in order to carrythe load over the expansion space between the rails by contacting theouter edge of the periphery of the car wheel. This is accomplished byproviding wedge blocks '24, which have a plane horizontalupper face 25and an inclined lower face 26. A'plurality of these wedge blocks 23maybe vinserted beneath the face I1 of the outer joint member. Theseblocks are adjustedalong the outer plate and positioned at the properdistance inwardly of the rail. Thus, the elevation of the top face ortread of the outer joint member may be adjusted to permit the propertread of the car wheel regardless of the diierence in radii of thecurved track construction.

After the wedge blocks 24 have been positioned to get the requiredelevation of the outer joint member, theyvmay be welded in place so asto give a permanent supportto the outer joint member and, since theupper face of the wedge block is horizontal, it matches the underface I1of the outer joint member.

Thus, the strain will be relieved on the4 joining members or bolts whichclamp the outer and inner plates of the joint together. It will beunderstood that the two plates of the joint are clamped together by apluralityv of bolts 21 mounted in theopenings 6, I4 and I 9.

In order to obtain a wedging action and a rigid support for the outerplate member and, because of the fact that it is necessary to change therelative position of the inclined face I8 in respect to theunderinclined face of the rail tread section for different adjustmentsof the outer joint member. it is preferred that where the 4 spacingoccurs, that shims 2 8 be inserted between the face I8 and the underfaceof the outer portion of the tread section of the rail, as illustrated inFig. 3.

It should also be noted that, in order to accommodate the raising andlowering of the outer member of the joint, the opening I9 should beformed slightly oval-shaped, with the greatest dimension vertical.

From the foregoing description, it Will be understood that I haveprovided a highly satisfactory rail joint that effectively relievesexcessive downward movement on the adjacent ends of the rails bybridging the joint so that a sub- .stantial part of the load is carriedon the outer member of the joint.

.It will also be understood that I have provided for adjustability ofthe joint to accommodate it to the requirements of track construction insuch a way as not to interfere with the proper tracking of the wheel,particularly'on curved sections of thetrack.

It will also appear that the construction provides for anrextremelyrigid and durable support for joints of railway rails.

It will .be evident, therefore, that the invention fully accomplishesthe purposes and obtains the advantages hereintofore vset out.

It should also be understood that I do not conine myself to the exactstructural formations, as illustrated, but that the invention may bevaried in certain particulars without departing from the scope of theinvention.

What I claim is:

1. For combination with adjacent ends of standard railway rails, a railjoint comprising'an outer plate extending parallel with the outer railsurfaces and .across the adjacent side face of the rails and having abase section dimensioned and formed to be fastened between the underfaceof the rail tread sections and spaced from the upper faces of the railflange and an integral upper section having a top surface inclinedupwardly from each end forming a central Section that extends above thecrown of the rail ends at the joint, wedge blocks inserted within thespace between the bottom surface of said plate and the upper face oftherail flange whereby the elevation of said plate may be adjusted relativeto the'crown ofthe rail ends, an inner plate positioned between theundersurface of the rail tread sections and the upper face of the railflanges, and means for clamping said'plates and said rail ends together.

2. A rail joint for splicing adjacent rail ends cut on complementaryangles comprising an outer plate extending parallel with the outer railsurfaces having a base section dimensioned and formed to be fastenedbetween the underface of the rail tread sections and spaced from theupper face of the rail flange and an integral upper section having atopsurface inclined upwardly from each end forming a central section thatextends above the crown of the rail ends G5 and across the area oftheangle matching faces ofthe rail ends, wedge vblocks inserted withinthe space between the bottom surface of said plate and the upper face ofthe rail flange whereby the elevation of said plate may be adjustedrelative to the crownofthe 'rail ends, an inner plate positioned betweenthe'underfaceof the rail tread sections and the upper face of the railflanges, and means for clampingsaid plates and said rail ends together.

3 For Y combination with' adjacent ends of standard railway rails, arail joint comprising an outer plate extending parallel with the outerrail surfaces and across the adjacent side face of the rails and havinga base section dimensioned and formed to be mounted between theunderface of the rail tread sections and spaced from the upper face ofthe rail flange and an integral upper section having a top surfaceinclined upwardly from each end forming a central section that extendsabove the crown of the rail ends at the joint, Wedge blocks mounted inspaced relationship between the bottom surface of said plate and theupper face of the rail flange whereby the elevation of said plate may beadjusted relative t0 the crown of the rail ends, an inner plateextending parallel with the inner rail surfaces and positioned betweenthe underface of the rail tread sections and the upper face of the railflanges, and means for clamping said plates and said rail ends together.

4. For combination with adjacent ends of standard railway rails, a railjoint comprising an outer plate extending parallel with the outer railsurfaces of the rails having a base section dimensioned and formed to bemounted between within the space between the bottom surface of saidplate and the upper face of the rail flange whereby the elevation ofsaid plate may be adjusted relative to the crown of the rail ends, meansrigidly attaching said blocks to the rail flanges, an inner platepositioned between the underface of the rail tread sections and theupper face of the rail flanges, and clamping means for connecting saidplates and said rail ends together and for permitting relative verticaladjustment of said outer plate.

WILLIAM G. BUI-IRER.

